White Ibis

A White Ibis posing for me in my daughter's backyard.

Linking to Saturday's Critters, Camera Critters and The Bird D'Pot.

Lake Jackson

Blue skies and clouds reflected in Lake Jackson. This lake is very popular with boaters and local fishermen. I took this photo from the dock next to one of the boat landings which is not far from my house.

Linking to SkyWatch Friday.

Fire truck

A few weeks ago I woke up to see this fire truck parked at the end of my driveway along with a police car and another fire truck just to the left of it and out of the photo. My next door neighbor had called the fire department because they smelled smoke in their house. It was a little disconcerting until they realized it was nothing more than the fact that they had turned on their heater for the first time since last year and the smell was caused by some dust on the heating coils, which quickly went away. My heater does the same thing every year, so I always make sure I open the windows before I turn it on for the first time.

Strawberry soda

Vintage sign on the wall of the same restaurant as the items I posted a photo of yesterday.

Linking to Signs2.

I noticed these vintage items being used as decor on a shelf in a barbecue restaurant. Contrary to what that sign says, I did not order any of my food fried and it was tasty anyway!

Linking to Tuesday's Treasures and Our World Tuesday.

Downtown mural

I was shopping with my daughter in the historic district of downtown DeLand, Florida when I saw this mural on the side of a building next to Pioneer Park. The mural is called "Pioneers in the Parceland" and was designed from an 1890 photograph of travelers waiting at the DeLand train depot. The mural was done in 1996 by the artist Perigo. Some of the people are carrying packages of oranges, which were often used to promote the area. The old Parceland Hotel can be seen in the background. The mural is so big and parts of it are obscured by trees, so I was not able to get a photo of the whole thing. If you would like to see the original old photograph that the mural was designed from, visit the link here.

Linking to Monday Mural.

Turkey vultures

My daughter moved to DeLand, Florida (a small town located about an hour north of Orlando) last summer and one of the things I enjoy most about her new house is the small man made lake right behind it. I usually sit out on her back porch during the day because there are all kinds of birds attracted to the water and it's fun to watch them and take photos. One day a group of turkey vultures landed just on the other side of the water. I have never seen turkey vultures sunning themselves like this and I was a able to zoom in on them before they flew off.

Linking to Saturday's Critters, Camera Critters and The Bird D'Pot.